Mommyof3sweetboys

Look forward to "sailing" with you virtually! 

Almost done shopping. Just a few little things left that are easy to pick up. I find if I buy it all too early, I get in a shopping mood and buy more, so I save a few things for when that hits! 

Been doing very well this week with exercise and eating and can see a difference now. Cruise is in 1 week so I'm super excited!! I have been eating very pure for the past month (very little sugar, fat or bread). I ate a cookie and felt very sick afterwards. Anyone else ever have that happen? Wondering if I should add a little sugar and fat back in this week so I can enjoy eating whatever I want onboard without feeling sick. 

I totally agree about being non-judgemental. Before the world turned crazy, I was a regular poster and no matter what, everyone was so encouraging. Hard to find on social media anymore.

Happy to report the muscle is healing quite quickly and I have been able to do some upper body exercise to help keep up my metabolism.

Thanks to your encouragement,  I have been able to resist all but one cookie and no more candy! It's much harder when it's so available this time of year! I've already had 2 Christmas parties and 2 more this week so it's really been tempting!! I'm down a half pound more. Halfway to my goal, but running out of time! 

Glad the kayaking went well! A comfortable life jacket is a good investment along with a nice dry bag with a hook or strap to store all your things. 

Welcome back Belle! Hope the cruise was amazing. I'm looking forward to 80s in Mexico!!

Had my booster last week. That went well, but last Thursday I had an accident and tore my Gluteus Maximus which is a literal pain in the butt! Even with not being able to exercise, Thanksgiving pie and my pity party I threw for myself involving chocolate truffles when I got home from the ER. I somehow only gained 1 lb last week. I need all the encouragement I can get because it is very tempting to just say forget it and eat all the Christmas treats! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful to be able to celebrate with family today! Down another pound so I'm going to be good today and not overeat to keep the momentum going. 

Hi! I've decided to join because with all of these Holidays coming, I need all the accountability partners I can to stay course. We have a Christmas cruise planned and I want to lose a few pounds before then. I've been working at it for a little while and can see the difference in the muffin top hanging over the jeans! But the scale hasn't moved much yet. Down about 1 lb so far. But I have been exercising 3-4 times/week so that is a vast improvement! Used to be very dedicated to working out, but we all know what happened!! Time for me to get serious again. 

Belle - Have a great time! It always goes so fast and I'm never ready to get off at the end so I think B2B is a great idea.

Izena - We are avid kayakers! I just received new kayak racks for my birthday. It is so much fun! Your arms will be a little sore when you first start, but you'll build up the muscles quickly. And if they start hurting, you can always just float and enjoy being in nature without having to work! 

We will be bringing 3 teenage boys in December and wondered if there are still water sports rentals open now. I had seen old posts about jet skis, banana boat, kayaks, paddleboards, etc. I don't want to promise them something if it isn't available so wondering if anyone who has been recently knows if these are still there. Thanks! 

Headed to there on Dec 29 and so thankful for the menu! Caroline has been great to work with and so responsive to all my questions.  I have 3 teenage boys going who want to do some activities. Do any places offer things like kayak rental, jet skis, banana boat after reopening? All the info I've found is old so I don't want them to get their hopes up if they aren't there anymore. 

On 11/9/2021 at 6:18 AM, coaster said:

Just back from Costa Maya. No tram, but Serenade was only ship in port. $4 pp for the 2 of us to taxi and you don't have to walk outside the port gate anymore as mentioned above.

On 7/19/2021 at 2:05 PM, nolatravelgirl said:

My cruise isn't till December and it looks like this place is not going to be around. Are there other places similar that folks would recommend? 

If you haven't already made a decision, they are still around just with new owners. We are going in December and made a reservation with them. https://www.facebook.com/Tropicante-Beach-Break-102206962109162

I have been absent from the group since the virus outbreak. I'll admit that once our cruise (and everything else in life) was put on pause, I quit trying to loss weight. Did a fair amount of stress/boredom eating at first, but have settled into a new routine now.  But I saw a friend post that she was the lowest weight she had been in 10 years and it reminded me that I don't have to let the virus take my goals away, too! So imagine my surprise when I got back on the scale after a month and discovered I had actually lost 2 lbs. I'm the lowest I've been in 5 years. Only thing I can figure is since I have to work from home, I'm moving a lot more than at the office. Plus we aren't eating out so home cooking must be cutting calories. So I'm hoping to continue and stay motivated. Happy Easter everyone! Hope to see you cruising really soon.

Hey everyone! Thanks for starting the new week. I lost a pound last week so I've lost the 2 lbs. I had gained. Back to my pre-holidays weight, but still have about 5 to go. Our cruise date is down to double digits so I really need to get focused! Did well this weekend avoiding the Rice Krispy treats and brownies. My goal is to limit myself to 1 dessert per week because sweets are my real weakness! Found a workout series on Amazon Prime that I'm enjoying called GymRa. Much easier to work out at home than try to make it to the gym! I think I'll try those cookies. I can count that as a healthy afternoon snack and it won't be a fattening dessert! Great job everyone. 

Happy "hopefully not any fatter" Fat Tuesday! Starting tomorrow for Lent, I'm cutting out white flour! Only eating whole grain for the next 6 weeks! Hopefully that will help with the scales because I LOOOVE bread! And pasta and cookies and cakes and really anything that is full of sugar and carbs! Down 1 lb. from my splurge last weekend, but still haven't lost all of the weight from the Holidays. I do think my jeans are starting to fit better, though. 

On 2/15/2020 at 7:15 PM, Hawg11 said:

Its asking for a serial number and authorization code. All I have is a card number, so I emailed them the card number. We will see, I purchased a small dollar amount to try out. If it works I'll go with a larger amount.

I can't believe a huge company like Royal Caribbean makes it so difficult to use a gift card. It is beyond me.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
 

I paid for our cruise using gift cards. Here is the email you need to use. 

If you're taking a 7 day cruise, you really can have a different outfit everyday without having to rewear too often if you buy the right materials. I think that people who are "overpackers" don't actually have a problem with quantity, it's usually a problem with the types of clothes they choose. Take jeans or shorts that are synthetic (stretchy) material and are light weight instead of the traditional bulky cotton ones. Buy thin black and tan slacks or skirts that can go with multiple tops for the evenings. You can choose to wear pants multiple times with different tops if you want, but if they are lightweight enough, you can easily fit 7 pairs of shorts and 7 tops in a carry on and still have room for formal wear. Same with dresses, find silky ones that can be wadded up into a tiny ball without wrinkling! Also look into vacuum bags (the kind you can suction without an actual vacuum cleaner!). You can double the amount of stuff you can fit into a bag with one of those! I like to pick my "outfit" for each day and roll the top, bottom, undergarments and socks into a little packet. I pack it according to day (later days go on the bottom and the first days go on top). That helps me not overpack and I can do my overthinking on what I want to wear at home instead of on vacation! I also always take a fleece pullover, packable rain jacket and lightweight cardigan because I'm cold-natured. I can fit 7 days of clean outfits, dressy clothes for evening, outwear and shoes in a carry-on and backpack. Only time I rewear is if I'm working out. I'll wear the clothes from the day before that are dirty for working out, then change into my clean outfit for the rest of the day. 

We did it in Grand Cayman. It was fun and the facility was clean, but it seemed pretty expensive for the limited time you got to spend with the dolphins. You were probably interacting with them no more than 5 minutes because there was a large group of people and you each took a turn. You were in the water for about 30 minutes, but you had to wait for each person to be pushed, pulled and have their photo taken given the dolphin a kiss. And they won't let you take pictures. You have to purchase the photo package in addition to the excursion if you want photos. I also found out the hard way to print all excursions you purchase beforehand and take the documents with you. I had purchased a dolphin swim and then you could walk across the street for the turtle farm. When we tried to go, they told us we didn't have the right wristband. I know for 100% certain that I booked the combo excursion. But they wouldn't budge since we had the band for only the dolphin excursion. When I went to guest services to see about getting my money back since we didn't get the excursion we paid for, she told me I was wrong and that I had only purchased the dolphin swim. Of course by that time, my excursion wasn't in my cruise planner anymore and I had no proof of what I had purchased. I would say that I am glad I went because swimming with the dolphins is one of those memories that I'm glad I have, but don't get your hopes too high for it to be amazing because they are captive animals and the companies get the tourists through as fast as possible!

Feeling like the weight loss/gain scenario just isn't fair! How can I gain 2 lbs from one weekend of travelling, but not lose 2 lbs. in one weekend? 🙃 We took a trip to Memphis and thoroughly enjoyed Beale Street. Obviously, too much when I stepped on the scale Monday morning! Back on track and hoping those 2 lbs fall off as quickly as they went on. (but not holding my breath on that!) 

19 hours ago, essgee_ca said:

I was able to book my MTD, for my May 2020 cruise, but it looks like for only the first night.  Does this make sense?  If I booked a time for the first night, will I be booked at that time for all nights?

Go through the reservation process completely for the first night and then go back in and start a brand new reservation. You have to complete the process for each night separately! SOOO annoying! 

On 2/5/2020 at 8:25 PM, Stoudty said:

This might be the same thing happening to us. Have a large group and all reservations are linked. How did you end up resolving this?

Our reservation was paid in full, but my parent's reservation still had an outstanding balance. I was unable to add them to my reservation, but when my dad logged in, he could add a reservation with us added to his. So I'm guessing that unless at least one party is paid in full, you can't link the reservations. 

My youngest just came home from school with the stomach flu! I really hope that's not my weight loss strategy this week!! 

When we traveled with our three sons (10, 12 and 14), we took a small, magnetic dry erase board (purchased at $ Tree) and put that on the back of the door so we knew where they were all the time. Then they could swing by the room and write "pool" or "rock climbing wall" etc. We were in international waters and they didn't have their own cell phones at the time so there was no way of knowing where they were otherwise. That gave them the freedom to do what they wanted and sure saved me a lot of steps trying to find them when it was time to do something together! Someone mentioned a sewing kit and that is a great idea. Just used it this last Monday on a trip when my son's button came off his sports coat. Mine is about the size of a matchbox and holds a needle, thread in a variety of colors, and a couple of buttons. I keep it in my purse all the time. I pack a folder with information about each port, our excursions, tickets, flight information, etc. I didn't see anyone mention lanyards. If you have kids, I'd highly recommend this or they will constantly be losing their sea pass or locking themselves out of the room. We took a magnetic hook and hung them by the door each night and made sure everyone had theirs on when we left in the morning. You can get a hole punched in your sea pass at guest services to attach them to the lanyard. Some cruise lines provide them for free, but others you have to bring your own. We like reusable water bottles for shore days. I don't want to pay extra for a bottle of water when I can take it for free from the ship. Things that I'd packed last trip that I didn't use - floppy sun hat  (it was too windy on the ship to wear it by the pool), beach towel (there was no reason to have my own), dressy clothes for every night (we were too tired some nights to get dressed up for the Main Dining Room and just wore what we had on for the buffet line). There are a lot of really good ideas on here that may work for you. The beauty of packing is deciding what is important to you and how comfortable you are with making do vs. being prepared! 

On 2/2/2020 at 10:51 AM, toxicfairy said:

I an going to ask and see if they can make me some. My 2 favorite things are that and those tiny rolls that have poppy seeds on top and dried tomato inside. I know a lot of people say they are too hard but I love them. Also look forward to the lobster on formal night. Guess it's the little things that make me so happy😊

We loved them too and when we told our server that, she brought us an entire basket and said we could have as many as we wanted because no one else liked them! 

I try to cut calories in ways that don't make much difference to me. Some examples are asking for the dressing on the side and only adding a very small amount and requesting that they leave off the high calorie items, start the buffet line with a salad and sit down to eat that before starting on the higher calorie items (you make much wiser choices going through the line with food in your stomach than you would starving), ordering a broth based soup as an appetizer instead of creamy, buttery or fried items, picking the entree that is the lowest calorie option, asking for a lower calorie side like green beans or broccoli instead of potatoes. Requesting that sauces be served on the side or scraping off most of the sauce.  I would suggest figuring out what your "must have" items are and splurge on those and skip the things you can do without. For me, I wouldn't want to skip the bread (because I love bread!) but could skip the appetizer round easily. You may love desserts so you'd skip bread to be able to indulge in that. Try to set times for eating and avoid eating in between. I find it much easier to set a time on the clock and tell my self that I will not eat anything before that time. Stop eating before you're full and wait 5-10 minutes sipping your drink and see how you feel. If you're still hungry, order another course. If you're satisfied after soup, salad, and bread, stop eating. There is nothing that says you have to order all the courses. These are tips I use any time I eat out, not just cruises, but it works there, too! Great job and keep on working at it! It's hard to shift your mindset, but it's a great lifelong tool once you get it figured out. You'll find that you do it without even thinking about it eventually. 

Checking in for my second week. Didn't lose, but didn't gain either. Which I consider a win since we chaperoned the school dance Saturday night (along with the huge table of goodies!) and traveled Sun-Mon! Hoping Valentine's Day chocolates don't cause too much of a temptation next week! And hoping I make it to Zumba since I missed this week. Do you all like to do exercise classes on the ship? I did Zumba last time and really liked it. Fun to dance on the pool deck looking at the ocean instead of inside a gym!

We're booked on the Radiance on the southbound from Seward to Vancouver. We decided on this the one-way option because we could rent a car and spend a few days in Denali before the trip. You do have to keep in mind that even though the cruise prices may be lower on one-way trips, there is the added cost of transportation either from (southbound) or to (northbound) Anchorage and you have to get one-way airline tickets into/out of Vancouver and Anchorage. So if you aren't planning to do Denali, I think a round-trip from Vancouver or Seattle would be the most cost effective. 

Hello! Happy to find this post because I'm using our June 5th cruise as my motivation for losing some weight. I like My Fitness Pal to track my calories/fat/sugar, etc. It's a real eye opener sometimes when you find out the food you thought would be healthier end up being higher in calories/sugars/carbs etc. than some other choices you wouldn't have thought would be ok. It also lets you put in your current weight, your goal weight and how much you want to lose per week then it calculates the amounts you should eat. One of the best things is that it already has almost every food in their database, so there is no math!! As long as you can get in the habit of entering the data every day (and actually limiting yourself to the right amounts! HAHA), it works great!  Down 2 lbs since the start of the year! Woohoo!